Kickoff: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Line: Notre Dame -3.5, Total: 52.5

Notre Dame looks to avoid its fourth loss in five games when it hosts No. 24 Louisville on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals have done well this season as they are 5-3 SU in the tough ACC with losses to Virginia, Clemson and Florida State. Overall they are 6-4 ATS, as they have failed to cover the spread in two of their past three contests. They did do well in their most recent game though, when they defeated Boston College on the road by a score of 38-19 as 3-point favorites. They outscored the Eagles 21-6 in the second half as they totaled 423 yards of offense for the game while the defense picked off four B.C. passes. The Irish looked to have a chance at playing in the playoffs this year with a 6-0 SU start (4-2 ATS), but things fell apart with losses to Florida State, Arizona State and Northwestern in their past four contests. They have also hurt bettors as they are 0-3 ATS in their past three games including an overtime loss to Northwestern last week as 17-point home favorites. Notre Dame allowed 547 total yards of offense to the Wildcats as it once against struggled with turnovers, coughing up the pigskin four times in the loss to give the school nine giveaways in the past two weeks. These two programs have not met at any point recently and will not play again until the 2019 season. Some trends that bettors should be aware of include that Notre Dame is a poor 6-17 ATS (26%) in home games after having lost two out of their previous three games since 1992, while the Cardinals are just 1-6 ATS (14%) after scoring 37+ points in their previous game in the past three seasons. Louisville suffered a big loss with QB Will Gardner (knee) now being out for the season, and the team could also be without WR James Quick (suspension), who missed the Boston College game after violating team rules. The Irish’s big loss came a few weeks ago when they lost LB Joe Schmidt (ankle) for the season while DL Sheldon Day (hip) is listed as questionable.

Can Notre Dame snap out of its funk and beat a ranked Louisville team? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season.

The Cardinals do not really excel in any part of their offense as they are scoring 31.6 PPG behind 239.3 YPG passing and 148.1 YPG in the rushing attack. With Gardner out, QB Reggie Bonnafon (662 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) will get the call, and he has been solid in limited action this season as the backup. When he entered the game last week, he hit on 4-of-5 passes for 69 yards while two of his completions went for scores. He is a valuable dual-threat option as well with 138 rushing yards (2.7 YPC) and three touchdowns this year. The running back position is led by HB Brandon Radcliff (445 rush yards, 8 TD) while both HBs Michael Dyer (414 rush yards, 4 TD) and Dominique Brown (374 rush yards, 4 TD) have 90 or more carries. The possible absence of WR James Quick (459 rec yards, 3 TD) is cushioned by the presence of WR DeVante Parker (490 rec yards, 1 TD) who returned three weeks ago and has gone over 130 yards with at least eight receptions in each contest. He is a true red-zone threat who tallied double-digit TDs in each of the past two seasons. The defense for this program has been exceptional in allowing opponents to score a mere 17.8 PPG (10th in FBS) while ranking 10th in the nation with 25 forced turnovers. Much of this production has started from a strong pass rush led by DLs Sheldon Rankins (7 sacks, 39 tackles, 2 INT) and Lorenzo Mauldin (6.5 sacks, 39 tackles) while S Gerod Holliman (13 INT, 1 TD, 31 tackles) has picked off nearly everything that has been thrown in his direction, racking up five interceptions in the past two games alone.

Notre Dame had looked like an efficient and dynamic offense to start the year, and it still ranks 15th in passing (304.4 YPG). Although the Irish have dropped off in their rushing attack (160.7 YPG), they have still scored 35.4 PPG (28th in FBS). QB Everett Golson (3,044 pass yards, 27 TD, 12 INT) has at least one interception in each of the past seven games after throwing none in the first three contests while going for 300+ passing yards four times in the past five games. He is always a threat to take off on the ground as well, with 339 rushing yards on 104 attempts (3.3 YPC) and 8 TD this year while posting his highest rushing total (78 yards) in the loss to Northwestern. HB Tarean Folston (668 rush yards, 4 TD) has at least 18 carries in four out of the past five games and is averaging 118.3 YPG when he hits that number. He has also been able to help out Golson with 165 yards on 14 catches (11.8 avg) and a touchdown. WR William Fuller (853 rec yards, 13 TD) has been the top option through the air, as he has gone over 115 yards three times this year and has at least one score in all but one single contest. Last week he had his best effort of the season in the defeat, as he grabbed nine balls for 159 yards (17.7 avg) and three touchdowns. The Fighting Irish were an elite defense through the first five games of the year, allowing just 12.0 PPG to their opponents, but have fallen off since, with opponents scoring a robust 42.2 PPG against them in the past five contests. DBs Matthias Farley (36 tackles, 4 INT, 3.5 sacks) and Cole Luke (37 tackles, 4 INT, 1 sack), and LB Jaylon Smith (77 tackles, 2 sacks) will need to step up to get the team back to its early season form.